Firm Websites as a Data Source for Accounting Research

Methodology, Applications, and Research Opportunities

WORK IN PROGESS - LAST UPDATED: 2025-11-06

About This Lecture

This lecture explores how firm websites can be leveraged as a rich data source for accounting and business research. We will cover:

  • Novel Methodology: Web scraping and archival website data collection techniques
  • Real Applications: How researchers are using website data to measure corporate disclosures, information asymmetry, and governance
  • Research Opportunities: How this methodology can be applied to answer new questions in accounting, finance, and management

Key Topics

Data & Methods - Web scraping frameworks and tools - Wayback Machine and historical website archives - Building longitudinal disclosure datasets

Research Applications - Corporate disclosure analysis - Private equity deal characteristics - Regulatory compliance monitoring

Lecture Materials

📊 View Slides

Click above to view the complete presentation with examples from recent research papers.

Learning Goals

By the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

✅ Understand how to systematically scrape and archive organizational websites
✅ Evaluate website-based disclosure measures critically
✅ Design research projects using novel web-based data sources
✅ Apply these methods to classic accounting research questions

References

The lecture draws on recent research including:

  • Haans & Mertens (2024): “The Internet Never Forgets” - A framework for longitudinal website analysis
  • Boulland et al. (2025): Applications of website disclosure measures to corporate finance questions
  • Jones (1991): Classic earnings management framework that can be revisited with new data

Contact

Instructor: Caspar David Peter
Email: peter@rsm.nl
Institution: Rotterdam School of Management
ORCID: 0000-0003-0020-1673